28th December

A brisker easterly saw a little more action off the Bill where the first Great Skua of the month lingered and 15 Red-throated Divers, 13 Brent Geese and 2 Common Scoter passed through; other reports from the day included a Chiffchaff at Southwell, 10 Redwings at Avalanche Road and 210 Dark-bellied Brents, 8 Goosanders, 2 Pale-bellied Brents and singles of Eider and Guillemot at Ferrybridge/Portland Harbour.Belated moth news of a False Codling MothCryptophlebia leucotreta - the first record for Portland - found indoors at Easton on Christmas Day.

The dip in night-time temperatures has seen moth interest fizzle out so it was a surprise when Ken Dolbear brought us out an unidentified micro that he'd potted from the inside of a window in his house at Easton on Christmas Day. We had a vague memory of seeing photographs of something similar that was new for Dorset back in the summer and a quick check revealed it was indeed the same species - a False Codling Moth. This Afrotropical species has in the past been known as an occasional import on various fruit and other produce although latterly it's begun to appear from time to time (as in the case of the first Dorset record) in moth-traps; Ken tells us that he's had oranges in the house over the Christmas period so it's a good bet that they're the source of this specimen: